Support Deck for Treadmill

ABSTRACT

A support deck for a treadmill is disposed under an upper stretch of an endless tread belt to support the tread belt and a user thereon. The support deck includes a plurality of indentations on a top surface thereof. Lubricant or lubricating oil is received in the indentations for lubrication between the support deck and the tread belt, thereby reducing friction between the support deck and the tread belt. Thus, the wear of the tread belt decreases, and the life of the tread belt increases. Moreover, the support deck may further include a plurality of ridges on the top surface thereof to offer foot reflexology.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a support deck for a treadmill thatsupports a tread belt and an exercising user thereon.

2. The Prior Arts

A treadmill is an indoor sporting equipment used to allow for running orwalking while staying in one place. The treadmill provides a convenientway to regularly exercise in all weather conditions in the comfort andsafety of indoor. Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, a conventional treadmillincludes a support deck 1, a tread belt 2, a driving roller 3 and adriven roller 4. The driving roller 3 and the driven roller 4 aremounted on a tread frame of the treadmill. The tread belt 2, which ismade of an elastomeric material of high strength and high toughness, isentrained around driving roller 3 and the driven roller 4. The drivingroller 3 is driven by a motor and the tread belt 2 is driven by thedriving roller 3. The endless tread belt 2 includes an upper stretchextending longitudinally between the rollers 3 and 4 adapted to enable auser to walk or run thereon. The support deck 1 is disposed under theupper stretch of the tread belt 2 for supporting the upper stretch andthe user thereon.

The tread belt 2 continuously moves above the support deck 1. An underside of the upper stretch of the tread belt 2 rubs against a top surfaceof the support deck 1, which wears the tread belt 2. Moreover, theweight of the user is applied on the support deck 1 so the frictionbetween the support deck 1 and the tread belt 2 increases. Accordingly,the conventional support deck 1 is provided with a very smooth topsurface to reduce the friction between the support deck 1 and the treadbelt 2.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Friction wears away contact surfaces of moving parts and therefore thefriction between a tread belt and a support deck for a treadmillshortens the life of the tread belt. The friction also generates noiseswhile the treadmill is in operation. Moreover, the friction results inenergy inefficient problem because a motor of the treadmill needs alarger load capacity to overcome the friction. A conventional supportdeck for a treadmill has a smooth top surface to reduce the frictionbetween the support deck and the tread belt. However, reduction of thefriction by this method is limited. It is hard to further reduce thefriction by providing a much smoother surface. A primary objective ofthe present invention is to provide a support deck for a treadmill thatcan solve the problems mentioned above.

The solution of the present invention is to provide a plurality ofcavities or grooves on the support deck to receive lubricant orlubricating oil. When the endless tread belt rubs against the supportdeck, the lubricating oil or lubricant makes a film between them so asto minimize direct contact between them. Thus, the friction and wear ofthe tread belt decrease. The life of the tread belt increases.

In addition to providing the cavities and the grooves on the supportdeck, a top surface of the support deck is provided with a very smoothsurface, such as a surface having mirror finish. Thus, lubrication andvery smooth surface can further decrease the friction between thesupport deck and the tread belt.

The cavities on the support deck according to the present invention maybe circular cavities or cavities in any shapes.

The grooves on the support deck according to the present invention maybe longitudinal grooves, transverse grooves, slanted grooves, V-shapedgrooves or short grooves.

The support deck according to the present invention minimizes the wearof the tread belt and the support deck and thus increases the life ofthe tread belt and the support deck. Also, the support deck reduces thenoises while the treadmill is in operation. Because the direct contactbetween the tread belt and the support deck is minimized, the loadcapacity of the motor is reduced. Therefore, the treadmill uses lessenergy, saves money, and helps protect the environment.

The support deck according to the present invention may further includea plurality of ridges. When the user runs on the treadmill, the ridgeson the support deck massage the feet and offer foot reflexology.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art byreading the following detailed description of preferred embodimentsthereof, with reference to the attached drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a conventional treadmill;

FIG. 2 is a schematic view showing the conventional treadmill that has atread belt and a support deck;

FIG. 3A is a schematic view showing a support deck for a treadmillaccording to a first embodiment of the present invention, an endlesstread belt and rollers;

FIG. 3B is a schematic view showing a support deck for a treadmillaccording to a second embodiment of the present invention, the treadbelt and the rollers;

FIG. 4A is a schematic view showing a plurality of circular cavities onthe support deck according to the present invention;

FIG. 4B is a schematic view showing a plurality of longitudinal grooveson the support deck according to the present invention;

FIG. 4C is a schematic view showing a plurality of transverse grooves onthe support deck according to the present invention;

FIG. 4D is a schematic view showing a plurality of slanted grooves onthe support deck according to the present invention;

FIG. 4E is a schematic view showing a plurality of V-shaped grooves onthe support deck according to the present invention; and

FIG. 4F is a schematic view showing a plurality of short grooves on thesupport deck according to the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Referring to FIG. 3A, a support deck 1 for a treadmill is disposed underan upper stretch of an endless tread belt 2 to support the tread belt 2and an user thereon. The tread belt 2 is entrained around roller 3 and4. The support deck 1 according to the present invention includes aplurality of indentations on a top surface thereof. Lubricant orlubricating oil 5 is received in the indentations for lubricationbetween the support deck 1 and the tread belt 2. The support deck 1 mayinclude curved ridges 10 (as shown in FIG. 3A) or flat surfaces (asshown in FIG. 3B) at portions between the indentations. The top surfaceof the support deck 1 is provided with a very smooth surface, such as asurface having mirror finish. Thus, the lubrication and the very smoothsurface can further decrease the friction between the support deck 1 andthe tread belt 2, thereby reducing the wear of the support deck 1 andthe tread belt 2. Therefore, the life of the support deck 1 and thetread belt 2 increases. The ridges 10 offer foot reflexology and improvegeneral health.

The indentations on the support deck 1 may be in various forms. Forexample, the indentations may be circular cavities 11 (as shown in FIG.4A), longitudinal grooves 12 extended along a longitudinal direction ofthe support deck 1 (as shown in FIG. 4B), transverse grooves 13 extendedalong a transverse direction of the support deck 1 (as shown in FIG.4C), slanted grooves 14 (as shown in FIG. 4D), V-shaped grooves 15 (asshown in FIG. 4E), short grooves 16 alternately disposed in rows (asshown in FIG. 4F) or indentations in any shapes. No matter which shapesthe indentations are, the lubricant and the lubricating oil can well bereceived in the indentations.

Although the present invention has been described with reference to thepreferred embodiments thereof, it is apparent to those skilled in theart that a variety of modifications and changes may be made withoutdeparting from the scope of the present invention which is intended tobe defined by the appended claims.

1. A support deck for a treadmill disposed under an upper stretch of anendless tread belt, a top surface of the support deck being contactedwith a bottom surface of the upper stretch of the tread belt, andsupporting the tread belt and a user thereon, the support deckcomprising: a plurality of indentations on the top surface of thesupport deck for receiving one of lubricant and lubricating oil; whereinthe lubricant and the lubricating oil provides lubrication between thesupport deck and the tread belt.
 2. The support deck as claimed in claim1, wherein the indentations are circular cavities.
 3. The support deckas claimed in claim 1, wherein the indentations are longitudinalgrooves.
 4. The support deck as claimed in claim 1, wherein theindentations are transverse grooves.
 5. The support deck as claimed inclaim 1, wherein the indentations are slanted grooves.
 6. The supportdeck as claimed in claim 1, wherein the indentations are V-shapedgrooves.
 7. The support deck as claimed in claim 1, wherein theindentations are short grooves.
 8. The support deck as claimed in claim7, wherein the short grooves are alternately arranged in rows and alonga longitudinal direction of the support deck.
 9. The support deck asclaimed in claim 1, wherein the support deck comprises ridges on the topsurface of the support deck.